


This World is Gonna Burn

by bamelot89



Category: Supernatural
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-28
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-21 14:45:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/901507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamelot89/pseuds/bamelot89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A human, a hunter's daughter, an angel vessel, and the Antichrist.  One wants to keep the world safe, one wants answers, one wants revenge, and one doesn't want to lose himself.  Somehow, they seem to work quite well together, and maybe they even make each other a little bit better than they are.<br/>But revenge can be all-consuming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This World is Gonna Burn

_I said to the sun,_

_"Tell me about the big bang."  
_

_The sun said,  
_

_"It hurts to become."  
_

_* * *  
_

Claire sits with her hands folded in her lap.  The lobby of the psychiatric hospital smells the way slightly yellowed wallpaper looks.  The constant chatter hums on in her mind, a perpetual white noise.  She uncrosses and re-crosses her ankles.  It’s been a year since her dad left—the second time.  Her mother wasn’t taking things well to say the least.

One of the nurses finally came over, gentle smile plastered on their face.  All of them knew her well enough by now to recognize her face.  She didn’t look back at Mindy when she got up to follow the nurse.  Since her mother wasn’t seen as fit to care for a child, Clare had been temporarily placed in foster care.  It didn’t matter that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. 

In the day room, her mother was sitting on a couch by a window.  The nurses no longer accompanied Claire all the way to her mother.

“Hi, Mom,” she said, getting her mother’s attention.

“Hello, sweetie.”

There was something different in the way her mom looked at her today.  It made her worry.

“So how was your week?” her mom asked.

“Boring,” Claire answered quickly, taking a seat.  But then, everything is boring after you’ve ridden a comet.  “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Her mother ignored the question.  “You’re still hearing the angels?”

“They’ve been slowly fading.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?  Is anything big happening?”

“There’s always something happening.”  Though in this case, it was something _not_ happening—the apocalypse, from what she had gathered from the slowly quieting voices.

Her mother gave her a sad smile.  “You didn’t deserve any of this.  No child does.”

“The world doesn’t worry about who deserves what,” Claire said dismissively.  “Mom, what’s wrong?”

“Are you still living with Mindy?”

“Yes.”

“You need to leave,” she said, lowering her voice.

“What?  Why?”

Her mother reached over and placed a hand on Claire’s arm.  She leaned close and whispered, “A demon found us.”

Claire’s brow dipped into a concerned V.  “Who are they?”

“Just one,” she said.  “Don’t look; it’s Derik.”

Claire knew who Derik was.  He passed out the nightly round of pills every Monday and Wednesday.  “You have to come, too,” Claire said.  “You can’t stay—“

Her mother shook her head.  “I can’t break out of this place.  But if you stay here, they’ll get to you, too.”

Claire chewed her lip.  She knew her mother hated Castiel, but…maybe…

“In fact, it’s better if you leave now.  It’ll give you more of a head start.  I don’t know when he’ll strike.”

 _Don’t cry_ , Claire told herself.  _If Derik sees you cry, he’ll know_.  “Okay,” she said, rubbing her hands on her pastel skirt.  “I’ll see you later, Mom.”

“See you later, Claire-bear.”  She kissed Claire’s forehead before Claire left.

She escorted herself back to the lobby where Mindy was waiting for her.

“Well, that was awfully short, dear,” her foster parent said as she put a Jodi Picoult novel back in her purse.

“She was tired,” Claire said.  And that wasn’t a lie; her mom was always tired.  “And I’ve got some homework to do anyway.”

But when Claire got home, she didn’t do homework.  She shut her bedroom door, got down on her knees, and prayed.

_Castiel.  Castiel, listen.  I don’t know how to pray to an angel, I don’t even know if you ever hear me, but I need you to this time.  My mom’s in trouble—Amelia, Jimmy’s wife.  And…I am, too.  But my mom’s in a hospital right now—the psychiatric hospital in Madison, Wisconsin—and she can’t get out.  The demon’s there right now.  It should be easy for you to come help, right?  One demon against you?  Piece of cake.  Anyway, I’m really counting on you this time.  So.  Madison, Wisconsin, psychiatric hospital.  Please come.  Please. This is Claire.  Novak._

After that, Claire got off her knees and emptied the contents of her book bag, repeating the prayer in her head, again and again.  She grabbed clothes and crammed them in her bag, as many as would fit.  When her book bag was full, she went to her closet and pulled out an empty duffel bag.  What else would she need?  Food.  Toothbrush.  She didn’t have any weapons.  She could take a kitchen knife, but that would do nothing against a demon.  With nothing more she could do at that moment, she pushed the two bags—one empty, one full—under her bed and got out a random textbook and paper.  The textbook was just for appearances in case Mindy checked in on her, while the paper was for a list of what she’d need.  She would have to wait for Mindy to go to bed before packing and leaving, so she might as well brainstorm as thoroughly as possible first.  It was only five o’clock.

An hour or so later, Mindy did check in on her.  “Homework going okay?”

Claire nodded.  _Smile_ , she reminded herself, interrupting her overlaying thoughts and prayers.

“Supper will be ready in a few minutes.”

“I’ll be down,” Claire said.

She made sure to eat her full at the meal, then went back upstairs to wait.

Mindy finally went to bed around eleven and Claire padded quietly to the bathroom and shoved essentials into the duffel bag.  From there, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a fair amount of food.  Stuff that didn’t require cooking.  Crackers, bread, peanut butter, and a family-sized bag of M&M’s.  In the end, she did wind up grabbing a knife, because it might come in handy on the road.  She knew that supernatural threats weren’t the only evil out there.

The last thing she needed was money, and though she felt bad stealing from Mindy, she knew she and her mom would need the money.  Maybe Claire would be able to pay her back someday.

She grabbed the empty box of pasta where Mindy kept cash and shoved it all in her bag as well.  That was it.  Now she just had to go to the hospital and wait for Castiel.

She took a bus because it was quicker than walking, and paid using Mindy’s money.  Once at the hospital, she found her mom’s room easily enough and squatted beneath the barred window.  She didn’t have to wait long.

Something felt wrong in the air, and she peeked above the window ledge to see in her mother’s room.  What she saw was Derik holding her mother against a wall, feet off the ground.  He had one hand wrapped around her neck, and Claire could see he was holding way too tight.  _Where was Castiel?_   What was she supposed to do?  He was supposed to be here.  She couldn’t kill a demon—not empty as she was.  She couldn’t even get past the barred windows. Derik let her mother drop and threw her across the room.  Her head banged against the frame of the bed, and he picked her back up and smashed her head against the wall.  _No, no, no._

 _Castiel!_ she screamed at the angel.  _CASTIEL!_

But there was no magnificent burst of light, no surprise appearance from anyone, and Claire watched blood seep from her mother’s cracked skull and the demon slammed her head against the wall again and again and again.  She didn’t see the light go out of her eyes because there was too much blood in them.

When the demon let the empty body collapse, Claire dropped back down to her knees.  It would go to Mindy’s house next.  It no doubt knew that was where Claire was staying by now.  She left the bags where they were by the window and took off at a dead run to get back to the house.

When she got there, at first she thought she was in time, but then she turned the light on.  At the bottom of the stairs, there was Mindy; red hair, and redder blood spilling from her head.  Her neck was twisted too far, her arm was bent backwards, and a bone was piercing through the skin of her leg.  Claire was frozen.  What was she supposed to do?  _Castielcastielcastielcastiel._   His name was a continuous mantra in her mind; one long, everlasting word.

“There you are.”  Derik stepped into her view, scrubs spattered with scarlet.  “Miss Mindy tried to tell me you’d switched homes.  Of course, she was lying.  But where were you, exactly?  A little late for a girl your age to be out alone.”

Claire counted six eyes.  They formed a crown around the front of half of his face.  His mouth was lipless and far too wide, nose contorted and out of place.  Several horns were protruding from his jaw—or maybe they were overgrown teeth, Claire didn’t know.

“What’s the matter, darling, grace got your tongue?”

Salt.  Demons didn’t like salt.  She made a break for the counter where it was, fingers grasping it.  She shouldn’t have had time to grab it.  Demons had telekinetic powers, didn’t they?  It didn’t matter right now.  She broke the lid on the counter’s edge and threw the salt at Derik, successfully getting it in his eyes.  While he fumbled to clear them, Claire dialed 911 on her phone and ran outside.  She was going for a neighbor’s house, but didn’t look first and ran right in front of a car.  Without thinking beyond surviving, she threw open the passenger door and limbed in, screaming at the driver to _go_.  They didn’t question her, and she didn’t look to see who they were.

“Hello?  Nine-one—“

She didn’t know how long they’d been listening for, but Mindy’s address spilled out of Claire’s mouth and into the receiver.  She hung up and threw her phone out the window.  It was traceable, and she couldn’t afford to be found.

“Are you alright?” the driver asked her.

Claire looked to her left and saw a middle aged man in a business suit.

“Someone’s after me,” she said, because that was the simple truth of the moment.

“Do I need to take you to the police station?”

“No.  No, they’ll find me there.  Can I stay at your place?”

He gave her a sideways glance and flew through a yellow light before it changed, sensing the urgency.

“Just for tonight,” she added.

“You’re just a kid.”

She pressed her lips together.  She’d have to lie.  “Someone can come for me.”

“I have no idea what I’m dealing with here—“

“You won’t have to.  I’ll be gone in the morning.”

“One night,” he confirmed.

And Claire was gone before he woke up.


End file.
